Note: After 1572, no
Lithuanian held the title of Grand Prince. Dominance by
Poland led to increased Polonization of the country and
in 1698 Polish was declared the official state language
of the entire commonwealth replacing Lithuanian and
Belarusian in Lithuania. The cultural, political, and
economic discourse of the nation was Polish and
Lithuanian and Belarusian were relegated to languages
spoken the illiterate peasants of the eastern regions of
the commonwealth. The situation persisted under Russian
rule, when Russian was the official, until 1905 when the
rebirth of Lithuanian language (which had begun in 1863)
was legally allowed inside Lithuania.

Note: Anti-German (at the same time
also anti-Soviet) resistance already began in 1941 by
establishment of Lithuanian Freedom Army. All resistance
groups united in 1943 to form Supreme Lithuanian
Liberation Committee. After the World War II anti-Soviet
resistance groups united in 1949, sometimes having full
control over large areas of western Lithuania.
Resistance continued into 1956 when their activities
were suppressed by Soviet troops.

Noble titles: Count = Grafas/Hrabia
(in German: Graf);Prince/Princess = Ksiaze/Ksiezna (in
Russian: Knyaz)the
style Kniaz/Kniahini or Kniagini
(title was also used is easten parts of
Poland for old families of tribal rulers, equal to
prince/ksiaze, but more distinguished).

¹The style "didysis
kunigaikstis" is better rendered "grand
prince" rather than "grand duke", just as is the case
with the Russian "veliki knyaz".
The confusion arises from the fact that the same Russian
style is used for what is definitely "grand duke" in the
case of Finland. The style of the polity should therefore be
correctly rendered as "Grand Principality".

2Under
the elective monarchy, a grand prince assumed office
upon his coronation at the Coronation Diet. The record
also includes the date of proclamation of the election
at the Election Diet. From 6 Jan 1573, during a vacancy,
the primate of Poland ex officio (occasionally another
prelate, in emergency situations) headed the state with
the style Interrex. Informally
from 4 Jul 1569, constitutionally from 3 May 1791,
Poland and Lithuania constituted the United Commonwealth
of Two Nations; the Polish king also had the style of
Grand Prince of Lithuania, and the two countries were
governed together and were represented on the Diets.
Although de jure the Polish Interrex only dealt with
Poland during a vacancy in the monarchy (the Lithuanian
Council of State [Lietuvos Ponu Taryba],
chaired by the Grand Marshal [Lietuvos
didysis marsalka] dealing with
Lithuania), this is de facto a spurious distinction. The full style of
Grand Princes of Lithuania (and Polish kings) from 1573
was (in official Latin): Dei Gratiae Rex
Poloniae, Magnus Dux Lituaniae, Russiae, Prussiae,
Masoviae, Samogithiae, Kiioviae, Volhyniae, Podoliae,
Podlachiae, Livoniae, Smolensciae, Severiae,
Czernichoviaeque. In Polish: Z
Bozej laski Król Polski, Wielki Ksiaze Litewski,
Ruski, Pruski, Mazowiecki, Zmudzki, Kijowski,
Wolynski, Podolski, Podlaski, Inflancki, Smolenski,
Siewierski i Czernihowski ("By the Grace
of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia,
Prussia, Mazovia, Samogithia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia,
Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernigov").

3On
11 Jul 1918, the State Council declared Lithuania to
be a monarchy and invited
Wilhelm Herzog von Urach, Graf von Württemberg
(s.a.) to be king, under the
unofficially proposed style of Mindaugas II, he
accepted the offer, but he did not come to Lithuania and
was not installed and was not recognized by the German
occupation authorities. On 2 Nov 1918, the State Council
suspended the invitation and Lithuania was organized as
a republic.

Territorial Disputes: Lithuania and Russia
committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in
accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by
Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania
operates a simplified transit regime for Russian
nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave
into Russia, while still conforming, as a EU member
state having an external border with a non-EU member, to
strict Schengen border rules; boundary demarcated with
Latvia and Lithuania; as of Jan 2007, ground demarcation
of the boundary with Belarus was complete and mapped
with final ratification documents in preparation.

6 Jul
1915
Administrative Area of the Commander-in-Chief of the
Eastern Front
(Oberbefehlshabers der gesamten deutschen
Streitkräfte im Osten),
in short Ober-Ost,
established (not formally recognized by the
German government until 4 Nov 1915) as a German supreme
military
administration over occupied north-western part of the
Russian
Empire (by late 1918 covers present-day Lithuania,
Latvia,
Estonia and parts of Poland [Suwalki, Bialystok] and
parts
Russia [Pskov]). Seat of administration in Kaunas. 11 Nov
1918
By the Armistice at Compiegne the German troops to be
withdrawn
from the East (fixed time not given); effective German
administration gradually collapses. 26 Dec
1918
Ober-Ost abolished.
Headquarters of commander-in-chief moved
to Königsberg in East Prussia on 20 Dec 1918. 21 Jan
1919
Office of commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front
abolished.